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For days, Salomi seemed to sing Paul’s praises. She told both Ruth and Robin about their good luck and they both congratulated Gabriel on finding a “boss who was an angel”. If they only knew. What was worse was that Paul kept giving him things. If he had the choice, he wouldn’t accept them, but he had a family to feed. He gave him medicine for Dahlia, he even gave Gabriel extra money to buy a birthday present for Rita and she was surprised to find some used tap shoes and a dress that Salomi and Ruth knitted for her. She smiled for the first time in days. She put on the dress and danced around in her new shoes as they all clapped along. Except for Dahlia.

“I want presents too!”Dahlia said angrily, jealous that Rita was getting all the attention.

“Hush, if you’re a good girl, Santa will bring you some for Christmas”Gabriel said sternly but lovingly as he pulled her into his lap and bounced her up and down on her knee. She forgot about her anger for awhile since Daddy was holding her. But he couldn’t take his eyes off of Rita. She still danced beautifully and did a perfect pirouette in her tap shoes. She was Daddy’s Girl alright.

Christmas was even better. On Christmas Eve, Paul gave both Lucio and Gabriel some Christmas turkey and red wine. On the way home, Gabriel witnessed a man throwing out a box of trash a block from his apartment and then speeding off in a car. He figured the man was running away from his debts and throwing out anything that would make the car too heavy for the trip to wherever they were going, which was very far away. Gabriel looked inside and it was a box of children’s toys. What luck! There was a train for Michael and dolls for Dahlia and Rita and a paint set. He took them back to the apartment.

“Merry Christmas baby”Salomi said as she greeted him. She had found a potted plant outside a hotel and discreetly took it as Ruth distracted the doorman, that was their Christmas tree. She made some scarves for the three children and Gabriel and was placing them under the “tree”. She gasped,”Paul….”she whispered

“The turkey is for dinner tomorrow…or well today. And I found presents in the trash”he said excitedly

“Oh Dahlia would love this doll!”she said,”I hope this doll will make her better behaved. She cut Michael today…I don’t know if we should give it to her”

“We cant punish her anymore….but I do have an idea….”he said,”But I wont tell you”

“What are you up to?”Salomi asked as he hid Dahlia’s doll in the cupboard,”What are you going to do?”

“Im going to act”Gabriel said,”This doll can be for Rita. This train set for Michael and I got a paint set. I guess all three could share it”

“Michael loves to write and draw”Salomi commented,”But they should share. They should all get the same amount of presents”

Gabriel sighed,”Wait…what about you?”he said sadly

“That turkey’s my present”

“Im serious Lomi. I want to give you diamonds like I did last year-“

“Shhhh…”she said as she put a finger to his lips.”Seeing my children happy on Christmas and seeing all of us fed is enough for me”she assured him,”And of course, you still loving me…”

“I’ll always love you”Gabriel said and kissed her passionately, almost dropping the turkey,”I want to show you how much I love you”he said as he put the turkey in the ice box and kissed her passionately and she didn’t complain as they laid there on the hard wooden floor and made love in front of the potted Christmas tree. They forgot about the broken water heater as they took off each others clothes, because they soon made heat of their own.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The next morning, the children were delighted to find toys. Rita was ecstatic because she was sure that Santa didn’t exist, but maybe he did, she thought as she hugged her doll tightly. Michael didn’t notice the train set and went over to the paint set and opened it. Salomi gave Gabriel a knowing look. She knew her son. Then Dahlia started a hissy fit.

“Gabriel, don’t torture her”Salomi whispered to him

“She needs to be tortured. But watch the master work”he said to her. “Whats wrong Dahlia?”he asked innocently

“I WANT PRESENTS TOO!”she said angrily as tears filled her eyes.

“Well remember what we said. We said bad girls don’t get presents”

“IM NOT BAD!”she said angrily

“Really? Because Santa told me that you gave that cut to Michael. And you yell at your mother and give her trouble”Gabriel said

“He did?”Dahlia asked with a pout. It was the same pout that broke Salomi’s heart and she looked away. Where was this going?

“I talked to Santa, when he brought the presents, early this morning while you were sleeping and that’s what he told me”Gabriel said and Dahlia started to cry

Michael looked at Gabriel in shock,”Santa really did that? He didn’t give Dahlia anything?”he asked. Hes never seen it actually happen before. Now he was sorry that he had told on her, but he was bleeding a lot, what was he supposed to do?

“He did….but….he told me something else Lia, you wanna hear it?”Gabriel said as he knelt in front of her. Her sobs getting bigger. “He did bring you a doll”he said and she instantly stopped. “But you have to say sorry to your mother and promise to not be such a ragamuffin and apologize to your brother and sister for terrorizing them”

“Im sorry mother, I wont do it again, I promise”Dahlia said and hugged her tight. “I love you mother”

“I love you too baby”Salomi replied

“Im sorry Michael for cutting you and Im sorry Rita for pulling your hair and yelling and being bad”she said and they forgave her. Dahlia then turned back to her father,”Im sorry father”

“I forgive you”Gabriel said and then he said,”Ok now Santa said that like magic, your gift will appear under the tree”he said and they all stared at the plant. But nothing happened and Dahlia started to cry,”Wait….he told me….he said….”then he stopped,”Wait…did you hear that?” Dahlia stopped crying and only sniffled as she shook her head no. “You cant hear it?”he asked as the three children stared at him. He got up and went to the closet,”Its coming from in here don’t you think?”he asked Dahlia and he beckoned her to come to him. Salomi smiled relief, finally realizing where this was going. Gabriel opened the closet door and Dahlia screamed with delight, very loudly and Rita and Michael ran up to her and she showed them her doll. Hugging it close to her. “It seems Santa played a trick on you. You’ll be a good girl?”Gabriel asked her

“Yes I will father”she said angelically. She never put the doll down and she behaved herself surprisingly as she played with it.

“You're so bad”Salomi whispered to Gabriel and he smiled and kissed her

“What did Santa give you mother?”Michael asked her

“He gave me a big fat turkey to make for all of us to eat tonight!”she said excitedly

Their Christmas feast included milk, turkey and bread. Ruth and Robin brought over some homemade gravy. The adults drank wine while the children drank the milk and they were all very happy and had a great time eating. It was the most that any of them have eaten in months. And Dahlia told Ruth and Robin about ‘Santa’s trick’ and all the adults knew it was Gabriel’s doing. Ruth made a quilt for Salomi and Salomi made her a scarf as well. “Im sorry, that’s all I know how to make in such a short time”Salomi apologized to her

“It’s the thought that counts”Ruth said

The men cleaned up and threw out the trash in the dumpsters. “You lucked out when you found them toys”Robin said as he pretended to scavenge for something in the trash and then laughed,”I haven’t had any luck besides this cigarette”he said as he took one out of his pocket,”Wanna?”

“No Im fine”Gabriel said and they stood outside in the cold air and Robin sighed,”What is it?”he asked him

“Ruth and I cant make the rent….I gotta find a new place. Theres nothing. They’ll be evicting us by the end of the week”he said angrily. “I cant…I cant live in one of those Hoovervilles….”he said sadly. Hoovervilles were shacks that the recent homeless made out of wood and whatever they could find. Seemed that the crash was his fault or the fact that it was getting worse,”I was thinking, just a couple of months of this and everything will be back to normal….but this isn’t going to end…not for a long time….”

“Stay with us”Gabriel said without hesitation,”Your like family. We are all we have left and I owe Ruth. Salomi and I drove her crazy back in the day”

“I know, she told me the story about finding you two in bed together when Salomi was only ‘a child’ as she put it”he said with a laugh, but he looked at Gabriel with tears in his eyes,”You mean it? We wont intrude?”

“No, if anything you two will give us more heat. The way Ruth and Salomi chat it up, the place will be so hot we wont need a water heater”he joked,”Seriously, stay with us. Til you get back on your feet. You would do that for us”he said and Robin hugged him. “Merry Christmas”he said as Robin cried into his shoulder. They broke the news to Salomi and Ruth and Ruth cried as well. Salomi thought it a good idea and said the two could have the children’s mattress until they could find something. The children were excited as well. The more the merrier.

Gabriel hated to leave them as he put on his coat and got ready for work. He hated to end such a good day on a bad note. He wished they didn’t have a holiday minstrel show.

“Can I come with you?”Salomi asked him

“What? Why?”he asked her

“I want to hear you sing. I haven’t in so long and I want to meet Paul. I cant thank him enough-“

“Not tonight Salomi. You need to stay with the children, its Christmas”he said, and he knew that if she saw what he did, she would surely kill him. He kissed her on her forehead,”I love you Salomi, never forget that”

“I wont”Salomi said, even though she was a little bothered by the tone in his voice. Like she wouldn’t see him again or something,”You alright?”

“I just hate to leave now, that’s all”he said honestly. She nodded.

“Rita, Michael, Dahlia, say goodbye to your father”she said as the three came over and hugged him. He kissed all their foreheads,”Now behave you little chickens”he said to them

“Im no chicken”Dahlia said with a smile as she held her doll. He hugged Robin and Ruth and then reluctantly descended down the 5 stories of stairs and walked outside into the freezing night air.

“Wait!”he heard Salomi call after him and she wrapped the scarf she made him around his neck and kissed him,”I should hang you for forgetting your present”she said playfully. He hugged her tightly and didn’t want to let go.

“Thank you, now get your pretty ass inside”he said and gave her one last kiss and went on his way. Salomi stood there and watched him walk until he disappeared. She turned to go inside when she heard moans. She paused, was someone hurt? Then she saw a man and a woman walk out of the alley. The man non-discreetly tossed money at the woman and she knelt on the ground and picked it up.

“Motherfucker”she grumbled

Salomi gasped,”Mary?”she said in surprise.

Mary looked at her and groaned, great another person she knew, saw what she had been doing,”Merry Christmas”she said sarcastically as she put the money into her pocket.

“Mary”Salomi said as she hugged her,”I…Ive been worried about you”

“Me too”Mary said

“Tell me you haven’t…..you didn’t resort to this”Salomi said

“Sorry Salomi but sucking a guy off is paying for my children’s Christmas presents and putting food into their mouths. No one will hire a desperate widow with no experience. I fortunately have experience in this”she said as she wiped her mouth

“You don’t have to do this-“

“Yes I do”Mary said defiantly,”All of us have resorted to doing things that we don’t want to do for our families. I can tell you of many women that we know that have resorted to prostitution-“

Salomi shook her head, not believing her friend had to resort to this. “You can visit me anytime. I live here”she said gesturing to the rundown building,”Im on the 5th floor, room 510…please say you’ll come by. Michael and Rita miss Kit and Nicky terribly”

Mary nodded as tears came to her eyes as a man walked up to them,”How much for the both of you’s?”he asked

“Go away”Salomi snapped at him

“Leave her alone, shes just a friend. How much you got?”she asked, not believing the luck. Men usually didn’t walk up to her like that, she usually hung around barely wearing anything and approached them. She then looked at Salomi,”I’ll visit when I can. Now go”she said to her as she and the man walked off.

Salomi ran inside and walked slowly up the many stairs. She cried as 2 cats ran past her and passed the usual place on the ascent up that smelled of piss. She thought about how many women used their bodies to make money, and she was grateful that she didn’t have to. She felt sorry for Mary and was worried for her and Kit and Nicky and hoped she would come by. She was thankful that Gabriel was doing something he loved…..

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“I'm astonished at you, Why, the idea of a man of your mental caliber talking about such sordid matters, right after listening to such a beautiful song! Have you no sentiment left?”Lucio asked as he smiled at the audience

Gabriel faked a smile, did a step and then shrugged as he pulled his pockets inside out, indicated that they were empty,”No, I haven't got a cent left”he said and the crowd laughed loudly, getting the joke. Sam began to play a song on the piano and Lucio beckoned the audience to clap along as Gabriel started to sing “Gimme Ma Money”:

“Last night I did go to a big Crap game,
How dem coons did gamble wuz a sin and a shame...
I'm gambling for my Sadie,
Cause she's my lady,
I'm a hustling coon, ... dat's just what I am…..”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Salomi confided to Ruth about Mary’s situation. She admitted that for a second she had thought about it too. She explained that many people were going to great lengths for money. Some people wanting to be the rich debutantes that they used to be. Salomi again mentioned Gabriel and how lucky he was to be doing something he loved, performing. She always wished she could see him and wondered why Gabriel would come up with excuses for her not to go. Ruth didn’t have an answer for that. But she knew that Gabriel wasn’t happy. Gabriel wasn’t the type of actor who would reluctantly go to work, wouldn’t show them one routine from the show and come home drunk, sometimes waking her. But the truth was Gabriel was too ashamed. He never wanted Salomi to see him. He was too ashamed to sing songs to his children. He didn’t want them to ever grow up into people who agreed that “All Coons Look Alike To Me”, the title of Lucio’s most popular song, which was entirely untrue. He sometimes got drunk because Paul always gave them alcohol on the house and he just wanted to forget the pain.

But soon Salomi couldn’t take it, especially when Gabriel brought home another bottle of wine, courtesy of Paul. They all toasted to the new year, knowing that 1930 would arrive in a matter of hours. Gabriel reluctantly left again and Salomi got dressed.

“You aren’t going are you?”Ruth asked her

“I am. Its New Years Eve, I want to ring it in by supporting Gabriel”

“Your not supporting him, your spying on him!”Ruth said,”Please Lomi, theres a reason why he doesn’t want you to go”

“Its only one night. If he feels the same, I’ll never go back. Watch them please?”she said, ‘them’ meaning the children. Ruth reluctantly nodded. Salomi thanked her and said goodbye to the children, explaining to them that she was going to surprise their father and then headed to the bar. She arrived and discreetly sat in the back as half naked girls danced onstage. This was too risqué for the children to see, but what was wrong with her watching this? She was a grown woman.

Then Gabriel and Lucio were introduced and she was pleased that the crowd practically screamed with delight as she got closer to the stage. But then her blood ran cold when she saw him, not believing it was him.

“Dis gul name Lucy Long, I trade her off foh bean soup”Gabriel said as he danced onstage

Lucio laughs,”Well, you is hungryest nigger eber I saw. You'r neber satisfied widout your tinken bout bean soup all de time” he said as the crowd roared with laughter. He began to sing the song but when he turned to sing with Gabriel, he was gone. He smiled widely and played it off, he wouldn’t let Gabriel ruin this. No. He can be the star for once.

*________________________________*









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